Secret Door is blazing up my TV set every Monday/Tuesday night! I am filled with intrigue, anger, joy (rarely), and awe at the continued developments of this show. Follow along as Lore Unnie and I discuss the tyranny, bad father vs. good father, and the lack of Ji Dam! For those that are watching, how do you feel about Secret Door? Is it all that you wanted, confused, or lackluster? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!! Peace!

Ekun: Where oh where do we start? The tears of anguish, the confusion, or the hatred for the King?‏

Lore: Hmm. How about we start with the King….he was a tad bit offended someone called him a tyrant. Its okay your majesty, I don’t think you are a tyrant. I think you are an Insane Tyrant. Like a Tyrant +1‏.

Ekun: So to make this clear (also tying in my confusion): King would rather the Norons, who manipulated him into power, to have the document of destruction instead of Park Moon Soo? In what world does this make sense? Is he doing it to keep his title as king? I mean, who is to say Sun/Sado would allow him to abdicate even after the fact? He seems to love his dad, why would he want to get rid of him?

Lore: This is how I understood the King’s train of thought: If the Crown Prince and the Sorons (Park Moon Soo’s faction) get the document, then they will make him abdicate and probably kill him. Why? Because the Crown Prince is too much of a do-gooder to ever let his Dad stay in power after he finds out how he got the power in the first place. If the Norons get the document then they will hold it over the king like they have been doing for 30 years. If the King gets the document then he ultimately wins—and can turn into Tyrant +5, with no one controlling him. He wanted Moon Soo to bring him the document, therefore, getting to that place without getting his hands dirty. But he did not count on Moon Soo actually taking a peak and freaking out over the fact that the document supported the fact the King was a lowlife. At least that is how I understood it. But hey, this show is so twisty turny I find myself rewatching scenes… because my brain can’t quite keep up with all of the intrigue.‏

Ekun: OK, that makes sense. But I am still just like King needs to get his life together. You sending you child to prison as a pawn, you blaming the situation on Moon Soo, you leaking information to Kim Taek to get the deadly document… you suck dude, you suck. Tyrant +6.‏

Lore: Man is he ever getting promoted. I can see his smiling cray cray face taking in all the promotions in his throne room. That jerk. ‏I think with all of the King’s actions so far it is pretty easy to see how he would get to the point where this story is inevitably going—the grisly fate of Crown Prince Sado. I can totally see the King asking his son to get in a rice box and starve to death.‏ Sick monkey.‏

Ekun: No more than Kim Taek, who actually let his kid beheaded for his greed. And his son was so happy when he acknowledged him as his own. That is just outright cold blooded.‏

Lore: That was sick. I mean, his son obviously had his own issues (torturing people and killing them and all) but still—to sacrifice your child’s life for your own political gain, that is just something else entirely. I think the scene that really set the Crown Prince apart from how his Father (and Kim Taek) was when he told the Crown Princess to not involve their son for as long as possible. Obviously Sun/Sado’s Dad did not think the same way—he had his son begging him not to abdicate at five years old. ‏

Ekun: On a side note: Show? First a tub scene (with Lee Je Hoon), now a scene with an adorable kid?! This is too much!‏

Lore: The show is trying to kill us. I blame the document. #fearthedocument‏.

Ekun: *Shudders at the document*Back to the matters at hand, I feel the show is trying to make us look at Crown Princess in a different light. Dare I say she did a selfless thing? But I hope she heeds Sado’s warning to never use their son again.‏

Lore: She did a selfless thing… kind of. If the Crown Prince was deposed, then her own son would be deposed as well (since there would be a new Crown Prince). So she was doing something good; but at the same time I could see her motivation being selfish. And I did not like that look she gave Ji Dam in episode 10. Nope, not even a little bit. Yet I still don’t fully hate this character. Weird, I know.‏

Ekun: I am indifferent to her now, but she does annoy me from time to time. I saw that look too. Wait—can I just say how flabbergasted I was when we saw Crown Princess and Sado’s kid?! I was like, “Oh! They actually consummated their marriage! Good for you… I think”. That look was not a good one. And I am mad she is trying to be giving the stink eye to poor Ji Dam. Show, can we please see more of Ji Dam now?

Lore: Yes! I was surprised at the kid as well. I mean, historically they had a few kids, but since we heard nothing of them, I guess I assumed in this telling it had not happened. I also noticed that when the King returned to the palace, and the Crown Princess wanted to see him, the courtier said that the Queen and Queen Dowager had also been turned away. Does that mean Sado/Sun’s Mom and Grandma are alive too! If so, where are these women?! In most Sageuk’s we would see the Queen Dowager trying to control everything (and if not she would at least be wandering around making every other woman feel inferior). And I second that about Ji Dam. We need to see more of her!‏

Ekun: Apparently they are! We probably won’t see the Queen because King has got some other little chippy preggers! He eating, drinking, and being merry with her turning away his mother and wife. Tyrant +7.‏

Lore: That jerk. ‏

Ekun: So one more thing I needed to ask: Was Chul Joo hand really cut off by The Original Huntsman?‏

Lore: Yes, as far as I could tell. Which had me yelling “How is he going to hold a sword now?!”‏

Ekun: Because when The Original Huntsman was dying, they showed him hand still intact… Was he just imagining them there? How is he going to hold a sword?! This is like Jaime from Game of Thrones!!!!‏

Lore: I guess I missed that. When Moon Soo found him, he showed his bloody stump, so I was assuming his hand had been cut off. Awww…I can’t get the GOT reference. My hubby loves the show, I watched the first four episodes and then never got back to it (I thought it was good, but I just never found the time). ‏So, any other points to touch on before we do parting thoughts?

Ekun: You should take another look at GOT! I don’t think so. Let me start: King: You are at a Tyrant +7… I only see this getting worse for you. Ji Dam: I hope you make more appearances in the future. More than likely, since the Crown Princess is trying to keep you close, you might become some type of court lady (but then that would be ok for her to Sado’s mistress… I don’t think she is thinking this through). Sado: I want you to get peace of mind, whatever that is just get it. Sorons and Norons: Please disregard the innocent lives that suffer as you continue to squabble about petty *censored*, no one is really looking to you for guidance anyway. Chul Joo: What is going to happen now that you have no hand?!‏

Lore: Document: I bow down to you. King: You are probably going to be a tyrant +15 by the end of the next round of episodes, I fully expect it. Sado: Sorry, but your life is just going to get worse. Poor guy, I want to hug him. Crown Princess: Just don’t hurt Ji Dam, kay? Ji Dam: I need to see more of you. Chul Joo: Poor guy, how are you going to hold a sword?! ‏